Thursday, April 30, 2009

"Four workshops focused on providing support to parents and teachers of children with special needs are being offered to attendees at this year’s California State PTA Convention. The Convention will be held April 30 – May 3 in San Jose.

#306: Organizing A Successful PTA Special Needs Committees or UnitParents and Teachers of children withlearning disabilities, ADHD, autismand other special needs benefit fromPTA support. This workshop willprovide practical tips and tools fororganizing and running collaborativespecial needs programs, andcompare the relative merits of PTA SpecialNeeds Committees and Special Needs PTAs.

Deb and I, along with a great gal from San Ramon SD, do this presentation tomorrow.Wish us luck!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

I am realizing that a big part of the reason that I felt let down by some of my friends is that I have NO family members that I am emotionally close to. Mostly because most of them don't exist or are emotionally unavailable. It's pretty much just me and Pops to provide the total emotional and financial support for the 2 of us and our kids. If I am sad or in an emergency I do not have the following to rely on or call: sister/brother (step, half or otherwise), cousin, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, aunt, uncle, sister/brother-in-law or grandparent.

We made it through first communion! Kids looked fabulous. The beautiful clothes lasted only slightly longer then the mass, but that is as I figured it would be. Nice party at our house. I had a chance to catch up with some good friends I haven't seen in ages. Our dear friend Margaret, whom Pops and I haven't seen in months received the most honorable guest award. She and her husband attended the mass AND came to the party following the excision of her appendix a mere 48 hours ago.

I must insert a moment of brutal honesty, because my feelings are a bit hurt. Party and friend etiquette review. If you get an invitation, RSVP if you will attend.

"We might stop by the party" from a few families is difficult to plan for. And then it hurts my feelings if you are not able squeeze us in to your day.

If you RSVP you are coming to a party. Do. Putting hours into planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning and then feeling like it is a burden for people to come to a party and celebrate my kids and family is a pisser. This is especially true for my family and it's challenging profile. We have limited family, few families we invite over (even less that invite us over) and friends are hard to come by for my kids. Pissiness aside-I am proud of my husband who worked hard to get his kids to this point. It was his doing, not mine. I am proud of my beautiful children.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

I shopped the closet of jennyalice before attending the RCEF (Redwood City Education Foundation) Benefit with my date, Squid. The profile of my borrowed closet items seem to profile jennyalice's life. The 2 borrowed items were:A sharp looking long black coat- ala Target

and

A purse that turned out to be alligator, real alligator. Not only that, it was made in Italy specifically for her. And if you want to be sure there are her initials embossed in gold inside. The best part is that the initials are JAM, and those are my initials, too.

At the benefit I won a case (12 bottles) of German wine. Tag says it is valued at $220.00. Ironic, given that I don't drink. People who know that about me now want to be my best friend.

Squid and I were hot looking mamas as we heeled home across the parking lot. We sported heels, make-up and visible gams. The case of wine made us all that much more fetching. We slipped into my minivan and headed home. I suspect my family wagon is valued about the same as the purse previously slung over my forearm.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Yeah, I love finding mail like that in my email. It brightens my day. Lucky for a whole bunch of people she is on lots of list serves. This means that not only do you get this, and related messages often, you might get it 2 or 3 times. Truth be told, she is an equal opportunity offender. She posts horror stories about people having a variety of disabilities and disorders. I have to wonder, what sort of person thinks that the rest of us want to read even just the headline about every freak horror story out there.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

There is a reason we live in the Bay Area. It is tremendous. And the ice cream is good, too.I recommend driving to The Warming Hut and hiking up the 1/2 mile to the Golden Gate bridge. It is a wonderful way of appreciating the local nature and the bridge.

It is rainy but we are just fine with that. Breakfast at Honey HoneyA ride on the cable car to the Cable Car MuseumOver to the Zeum-Aj and Ki make a music video, Ki and Pops make clay creations togetherA quick trip through Metreon and Play StationDinner, again, at Pucinni and Pinetti and Aj makes his own pizzaCable car ride to Girrideli Square (sp?) for sundaesBack to the hotel for the third and final night Pops and I swap off which kid we sleep with

It is not all heaven-kids fight and we forgot Aj's medication so he is Zippy and antsy. But we are on a vacation and it feels like we are miles away from home.

Ki and I drove up to the city for the night and stayed in Union Square. We went out for dinner and slept together. Bought apple turnovers as big as my head for breakfast and hiked through Union Square and then China Town.We:ate dim sumtried bubble tea (not a hit)checked out all the fresh and live fish and animals for sale in the marketsdid tea tastingvisited The Fortune Cookie Company (and bought some)bought almond cookiesbought BBQ duckplayed in the parkAfternoon:read newly acquired comic book and city guide in a Starbucksplayed at Children's Circle Playground Yerba Buena Parkrested back in hotelDinner:at Sears Fine Food-fabulous vegetable plate for me and pancakes for Kicoloring and more comic book reading at Borders at Union Square and Pops and Aj join us. They rode the train to BART and walked to us. Aj in heaven. We get Aj dinner at Jack in the Box and Ki is thrilled to be the tour guide.

Friday, April 10, 2009

On the Monday of Spring Break Pops and I took kids to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Reserve on the coast. Just a bit south of Pescadero. Above photos are of a young "weaner" and another one who is slightly older. We were amazingly close and the weather was incredible. Starting in April you do not have to have a reservation to go see them. All the males are pretty much gone-but still worth the trip. A 3 mile walk round trip, mostly flat.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Ki did not get into smarty pants public school. 290 applicants for 80 some odd spots. She did nto get enough points in the application process. So pretty much a no go in the future as well. I am okay with it for the part that I never thought she was a "gifted" child. I just hope she finds a set of friends to hang with next year.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Poor Pops as been so concerned about getting a dress for Ki and her first communion. She HATES dresses and all things feminine, so this has caused some angst for all in the family. Quiet Pops as talked to nearly any mother he could get his hands on about the need for a white dress that would work. Due to his efforts we had dresses offered up from the Greek Orthodox Brownie Leader to the niece of one of his Palo Alto patients. Today I bought "The 1st Communion Dress" for only $30.00 at TJ Max. I ripped off the tag that said "Cinderella" before I had her try it on. She would kill me if I had her wear something associated with a princess. Luckily, she won't try to decipher the sewn in label with the same moniker. It is a very pretty dress. But I know not to utter the "p" word in her presence. Evidently the "b" word, "beautiful" is fine if not uttered with too much gushing. The dress has a slightly fitted sleeveless bodice with a design of sewn in pearls, and a long full skirt. No flowers anywhere. She tried it on and twirl led in front of the mirror, offering no complaints. She may have even liked it. But I think she was afraid to admit that to either of us. It will go well with the $13.00 shoes from Marshall's. I'll forgo any head piece or veil as a compromise to her.

About Me

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist (Speech Therapist) with over 25 years of experience. I specialize in evaluating and treating feeding difficulties. Feeding evaluations, and many therapy sessions, are done in collaboration with the Occupational Therapist at Sage Therapy. Izzy, a golden retriever, is a specially trained therapy dog who rounds out our team.